


I Can't Sleep

by TheSofterGentlerMe



Series: The Long Shadow of Our Pasts [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fear, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28529535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSofterGentlerMe/pseuds/TheSofterGentlerMe
Summary: Finn is having night terrors. They're not sure what's wrong, they just know their room is suddenly not friendly. Catra is losing some sleep over it but she doesn't mind doing so to help out Finn but as it goes on, she begins to wonder if it might be something a bit more than just Finn having an issue.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), catradora - Relationship
Series: The Long Shadow of Our Pasts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088336
Comments: 11
Kudos: 79





	I Can't Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> Shall we?

Finn sat in their bed and stared out into the darkness of their room. They were almost nine, they shouldn’t be scared of the dark, but tonight the dark seemed almost alive. Finn’s eyes were wide as they held their stuffed whale tight as they looked out over their room, awake suddenly for no reason they could tell. Nothing was out of place, nothing peeked out of the closet, breathed under the bed, or put a little tendril out from the bathroom so Finn wasn’t sure why they were so scared but the room seemed to almost pulse around them. Finally, Finn took a deep breath and ran out of the room and down the hall to their moms’ bedroom, clutching their stuffed whale the whole way. 

Catra, asleep by herself since Adora was out on a survey, felt herself being shaken awake. Her eyes snapped open to see Finn knelt down next to the bed. 

“Finn, what’s wrong?” she said as she sat up in bed. 

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight?” Finn said, looking over their shoulder for a moment. The weird feeling had left as soon as they’d hit the hall but they still felt their heart pounding as they remembered. 

“Sure. Is something wrong?” Catra said. 

Finn scooted around the bed quickly and climbed up onto the bed and pulled the covers around them. 

“No… I just…,” Finn said before trailing off as they felt like something was out in the hallway, lurking. 

Catra felt her fur creep up on the back of her neck around the little knot of scar tissue there as she saw Finn staring out into the hallway. 

_ They’ve just spooked themself and you’re picking up on it. Nothing’s wrong,  _ Catra told herself. 

“Hey, you can tell me. You know I’m scarier than anything that’s scaring you,” Catra said with a little smile as she gently ran her hand over Finn’s head, scratching behind their ear for a moment. 

Finn relaxed a little and said, “I don’t know what it was but I just felt really scared in my room. I don’t know why.”

Catra nodded. She wondered if they were having panic issues. She knew how that could suddenly drop on you and feel like a weight on the chest with the whole world feeling like a hostile place. 

“Do you want me to go and check it out?” Catra said. “I don’t mind.”

Finn shook their head as they said, “Please don’t leave!” 

“Hey! It’s alright! I’m not going to go if you don’t want me to,” Catra said. “I’ll stay right here. You go to sleep, I’ll stay up and keep watch. Deal?” 

Finn nodded and Catra tucked Adora’s blanket around them and butted her forehead against Finn’s. 

“You’re safe, I promise,” Catra said. “Take deep breaths and count back from ten. I’ll be right here.” 

Finn was soon fast asleep and as she heard them drift off, she quietly got out of bed and stuck her head out into the hallway, just to be sure. Nothing was there, just moonlight drifting in through a skylight. She shrugged and settled down into a chair in the corner of the room. She knew she could probably go back to bed but she’d promised Finn she’d stay up and watch and she was going to keep her word. She settled down and started meditating as she watched Finn slumber. 

When daybreak came, Catra stood up and stretched from the chair. She gently shook Finn awake and they woke up, slowly blinking their eyes. 

“Time to get up and get ready for classes, kiddo,” Catra said. “You doing better this morning?” 

“Uh-huh,” Finn said as they climbed out of bed with their stuffed whale and then stretched, their arms reaching for the ceiling. 

“You’re getting long!” Catra said with a grin as she tickled Finn’s sides. 

Finn laughed and said, “I’m getting tall, Mother.” 

“I prefer long. It’s funnier,” Catra said, sticking her tongue out at Finn. 

Finn stuck their tongue out right back. Catra smiled and said, “Alright, go get cleaned up and ready. I’ll get breakfast ready. Any preferences?” 

“Food,” Finn said.

“What kind of food?” Catra said, knowing exactly what they were going to say.

“The kind you eat!” Finn giggled as they ran out into the hallway towards their room. 

That night, Catra was yawning, trying to read an art paper, while Finn sat at the kitchen table and fiddled with a breadboard circuit that their Uncle Bow had given them. A buzzing noise jerked Catra’s head around as Finn grinned at her and said, “I got it to work!” 

They pointed down at the buzzer and flashing LED’s on the board and Catra smiled as she said, “You did a great job there! You startled me but you did a great job. I’m thinking it’s getting on towards bedtime though so why don’t you pack it up for tonight, alright?”

Finn nodded and put everything away in a box and went to put it away in a closet in the living room. When they opened the closet they suddenly felt a moment of fear and thought they heard a rustling as if something had just scuttered out of sight. They stepped back with the box clutched to their chest and looked into the closet for a moment. Catra looked up from where they sat at the kitchen table to see Finn looking into the closet and said, “What’s up?”

Finn looked at her and said, “I thought I heard something in there.”

Catra groaned and said, “We better not have mice again. I hate dealing with the live trap. Do you smell them?” 

Finn sniffed a little but just smelled the candles on the top shelf and shook their head. 

“Go ahead and put that up and I’ll set out the traps just in case after you go to bed,” Catra said. 

Finn nodded and put the box in the closet, hesitating a little before quickly shutting the door. They got ready for bed with no problems, Catra checking in to give them a kiss goodnight, and they were soon fast asleep. Catra spent a few minutes rummaging around under the sink and getting out the live traps and baiting them with a little peanut butter before sticking them in the back of the closet. 

“Better not catch anything before Adora gets home,” Catra grumped a little as she shut the door. She shut the lights off and walked through the house one last time before changing for bed and passing out almost before her head hit the pillow. She had no problem waking up a few hours later to the screams though. 

She tore down the hallway and into Finn’s room to see Finn standing in the middle of the room screaming at the top of their lungs. She snatched them up with one hand and held them close while she quickly turned around in the middle of the room, looking for danger. When she saw nothing she crouched down on the ground and held Finn as the screaming subsided to crying. Catra wasn’t sure what to do and she almost preferred the screaming as it felt like something she could handle better. 

“Finn, honey, what’s wrong? What happened?” Catra said, still looking around the room while stroking Finn’s back. 

“I saw… I saw…,” Finn said, not quite able to speak fully.

“Do you still see it?” Catra said. “Just yes or no, honey.” 

“No,” Finn said and she could feel their whole body shaking. 

“Can you point to where it was?” Catra said. 

Finn pointed at the hidey-hole, which took up a good portion of the back of the room. Catra picked them up off the ground and stepped over to the door to flick on the lights. The little hidey-hole they’d built for Finn when they’d first moved in was now decorated all over the outside with drawings from all three of them and had expanded out over the last few years and now had several little hidden rooms in it for Finn to play in. Catra couldn’t help but think that it was also connected to the bed by a little tunnel.

“Finn, honey, I’m going to look in there but I’m not going to go in there alright?” Catra said as she sat them down again.

“No!” Finn said, fear across their face. 

“Are you scared that I’ll get hurt?” Catra said and Finn quickly nodded their head. 

Catra hugged them close and said, “OK, well, I’m just going to look from right here then.” 

Catra knelt down quickly and looked back up the entrance. She didn’t see anything and she knew that it wasn’t large inside so she didn’t think a person was hiding in there. She listened and sniffed at the air but she heard nothing but Finn sniffling a little and the scent of their toothpaste. She wondered what was going on but figured she’d find out later. 

“I don’t see anything and I don’t hear anything. Do you want to go back to bed or do you want to sleep in my bed again tonight?” Catra said. 

“Your bed,” Finn said without hesitation. 

“Can do, kiddo,” Catra said. “Let’s go. Do you want to get your whale?” 

Finn looked at where their whale sat on the bed and shook their head. Catra found that odd. They’d been attached to that whale since the first day they’d come to stay at their house. 

“Honey, do you want me to get it? Nothing’s going to hurt me, I promise,” Catra said.

She could see the desire for the comfort of the whale war with the fear on Finn’s face and finally just took the few steps to get the whale off the bed and handed it to Finn. As she was handing the whale to Finn, she heard them squeak and saw them looking under the bed. She snapped around and dropped to all fours but saw nothing. 

“Come on, kiddo, let’s get you tucked in,” Catra said as she picked them up and left the room. She left the light on in their room but couldn’t say why as she walked with Finn down the hallway and tucked them in on Adora’s side again. She made a mental note to talk to Perfuma when she returned in a few days for Finn’s weekly session about these night terrors. 

“Will you stay up and watch again?” Finn whispered as they looked towards the hallway after Catra had tucked them in.

“Of course I will,” Catra said, sitting on the side of the bed and slowly stroking Finn’s back. 

“Thank you for saving Mx. Whale,” Finn said sleepily as they drifted off.

“You’re welcome,” Catra said and then stopped to think about that for a moment. 

_ What did they mean by saving Mx. Whale? I just picked it up off the bed,  _ Catra said. She looked out at the hallway and shook her head again.  _ You have your own problems with anxiety and paranoia and Finn’s just having a hard time. Don’t let it set you off. Let it go. _

She leaned up against the headboard for a moment, hand resting on Finn as they slept, telling herself she was going to get up and move to the chair, but she kept her eyes on the hallway for some reason she couldn’t name. For a split second, it seemed like the light streaming down the hallway from Finn’s room dimmed, like someone had walked through the door. 

Catra sat bolt upright, heart pounding. 

_ Did I really see that or did my eyes close for a split second?  _ she asked herself.

Ever sense screamed at her as she silently stood up off the bed and crouched down just a little, the better to vault over the bed if anyone tried to come through the door. Her hands curved inward as her claws came completely out. After a minute and nothing had happened, she slowly stalked around the foot of the bed, watching the hallway and doing her best to keep her breathing under control. She could hear Finn sleeping peacefully and swore to herself that nothing would get to them as long as she drew breath. 

She waited for fifteen long minutes, telling herself to be patient, that if someone was lying in wait in the hallway that they’d want her to come out into an ambush. Finally, she realized she wasn’t hearing anything. She took a long slow sniff of the air and didn’t smell anything other than Adora’s foot powder on the dresser next to her and a faint whiff of laundry detergent off the sheets. She shook the tension out of her shoulders while she mentally chided herself. 

_ Can’t believe I got myself worked up like that. Just saw my own eyelids slide closed for a second, _ Catra thought but even so, she still quietly took the mirror from the top of the dresser and slid it into the hallway for a look before going out herself. She looked up and down the hallway and felt the fur along her neck raise up a little but she took a few deep breaths and chalked it up to tension. She put the mirror back on the dresser, checked on Finn to be sure they were still sleeping soundly, and then sat down in the chair to watch over them again. 

The next day was rough for Catra. Finn had got up without a problem. However, they were a little reluctant to go into their bathroom and get ready but Catra had gone into the room with them at first and when they saw just the usual toys and books in their room they’d relaxed. Then they’d gotten ready quickly, ate breakfast, and left to go to classes. 

Catra had tried to do some artwork but had a hard time staying awake and after arguing with herself about had lay down for a nap, curled up on the couch, only to be woken up by Finn thirty minutes later as they came home. When bedtime finally rolled along, Catra had debated just putting Finn to bed with them but ultimately decided against it. She knew it would be best to keep to routine if it was anxiety causing Finn’s problems. 

She tucked Finn in and then went and flopped down on her own bed and realized that Adora would be back the next day and smiled a little at the thought. Of course, part of the smile was the thought of having Adora to help if Finn had problems in the night again but she couldn’t manage to feel guilty over it as she drifted off to sleep. Catra woke to her alarm the next morning and stretched, happy she’d got a full night of sleep. 

_ I guess Finn did alright last night,  _ she thought as she got up. Then she noticed, in the pre-dawn dark, that light was coming down the hall from Finn’s room. She hurried down there and saw the bed empty, blankets and sheets tangled as if from a struggle and she felt like she had dropped into a pit. 

“FINN!” she screamed as she turned around quickly, trying to spot them. 

Then she heard a quiet whimper from the bathroom and tore into the room to find Finn hiding in the towel closet, clutching their whale with their eyes wide in fear. 

“Finn!” she said, almost sobbing with relief as she pulled them out of the closet and held them close. “You’re alright. I got you. You’re alright.” 

Finn shivered a little but didn’t say anything as she carried them out of the room and down the hall to the living room where she sat down on the couch. 

“Finn, why were you hiding in the towel closet?” Catra said. 

“Something was in the room,” Finn said, as their shaking subsided a little. 

Catra looked back towards the hallway as she felt her fur try and stand up.

“Why didn’t you come and get me?” Catra said. 

“Because it was whispering your name,” Finn said quietly. “I hid so it’d try and find me instead. I didn’t want it to get you.” 

Catra felt tears run down her face as she hugged Finn tight. 

“You were incredibly brave, Finn,” she said to them. “It’s over now though. You’re alright.”

_ What is going on!?  _ Catra wondered as she rocked Finn back and forth on the couch. She knew the first thing she had to do though. 

“Come on, Finn. We’re going to go see Aunt Glimmer and Uncle Bow and have breakfast with them, alright?” Catra said as she stood up, still holding Finn. Finn just nodded a little as Catra walked right out the front door, senses alert as she looked around the bushes and trees of the front yard. An hour later, as the sky was brightening, she walked into the castle of Bright Moon, Finn still held to her side. The guard on duty saluted her, which felt odd to her even after all these years, and she nodded back as she kept walking and went straight to Glimmer and Bow’s dining room where they were just sitting down for breakfast. 

“Oh, hey, Catra,” Glimmer said as she saw her come in and then realized Catra was barefoot, Finn was clutching their stuffed whale, and both of them were wearing their night clothes. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, Sparkles,” Catra said as she sat down wearily in a chair and sat Finn next to her. “We just thought we’d come have breakfast with you two if you don’t mind.” 

“Of course not,” Bow said as Catra looked at Glimmer and made a little eye gesture at the door. 

“Finn, I’m going to go help Aunt Glimmer with something real quick, alright?” Catra said. 

Finn, who had calmed down on the walk and was starting to fall asleep at the table, nodded slowly. Bow moved to the chair next to them and said, “Thanks for coming to breakfast with us, Finn!”

“Uh-huh,” Finn said sleepily as they leaned up against their Uncle Bow and Bow wrapped an arm around them. 

Catra kissed the top of Finn’s head and stepped out into the hallway with Glimmer. 

“Ok, I know you didn’t show up in pajama shorts and top because you were in a hurry to eat with us,” Glimmer said as she shut the door. “What’s going on?” 

“I don’t know. Finn’s been waking up the last few nights because they’re scared of something but I just figured it was, I don’t know, bad dreams or anxiety or something. Swore they saw something the other night but I didn’t see or hear anything myself. Well this morning, I went into their room and all the lights were on and I couldn’t find them at first,” Catra stopped for a moment as she took a deep breath to get past the stab of fear she had from remembering that moment where she thought she’d lost Finn. “I found them hiding in the towel closet in their bathroom. They said something had been in their room whispering my name and they hid.” 

Glimmer leaned back against the door as she listened and when Catra had finished she said, “What do you think it is?” 

Catra started to speak and then stopped for a moment and then finally said, “I have no idea. I’m still leaning towards something with Finn and I probably need to get Perfuma here to help ASAP but just in case… will you come check the house with me?” 

Glimmer reached up and squeezed Catra’s shoulder and said, “You know I will.”

They stepped back inside to see Finn asleep against Bow.

“Everything ok?” Bow said. 

Glimmer shook her head and said, “Not sure yet. Can you watch Finn for a little while?” 

Bow looked down at Finn with their mouth wide open as they slept and then back to his wife and said, “Yeah, I think I can handle this.” 

“We’ll be right back,” Glimmer said and then grabbed Catra and teleported to the front of her house. 

“We could have walked,” Catra said as her stomach flipped. 

“Less complaining, more searching the house,” Glimmer said.

“Then let’s start in Finn’s room, go through every nook and cranny in the place,” Catra said. 

An hour later, they both sat in the attic, not having found anything after going through every room and closet and cupboard. Catra felt a bit silly as she sat on a crate. 

“I’m sorry to drag you out this early for nothing. I guess I should just call Perfuma,” Catra said.

“Don’t feel bad,” Glimmer said, giving Catra a hug around the shoulders. “What if something or someone had been hiding in the house? At least I would have been there to help you.” 

“I’d probably be looking at rebuilding that wing of the house if you had,” Catra said with a little laugh. “Adora’s coming home today. That’d have been hysterical. ‘Honey! Welcome home! We’re remodeling!’” 

Glimmer laughed as well as she said, “Let’s head back up to Bright Moon and you two can hang out with us today if you want.”

“Sounds good. Let me get some clothes for us and leave Adora a note so she doesn’t flip,” Catra said as she went down the ladder. 

As she said that, she heard the front door open and Adora call out, “I’m home early! Where’s my awesome family!?” 

Catra walked out into the living room with Glimmer and Adora looked confused. 

“What’s going on?” she said. 

“It’s been a weird couple of days,” Catra said as she went up and gave Adora a huge hug and kiss. 

“You have no idea how much that was true for me as well,” Adora said. “I have got a thing to tell you both.” 

“Well tell us yours,” Catra said. “I need a distraction.”

Adora proceeded to tell her exactly what had happened and how she’d found Shadow Weaver hiding out in the hills of Dryl. As she talked, Catra tried to suppress a growl in her throat as Glimmer’s eyes went hard. Adora finished with, “And then I destroyed half that stupid fence. Petty but you know, so worth it. Don’t think we’ll hear from her again.” 

“When was this?” Catra said. 

“About three days ago,” Adora said, apologetically. “I know, I know, I should have called you but I wanted to tell you in person.”

Things from the previous few nights were clicking into place in Catra’s head as she said, “Adora, we have a big problem.”

**Author's Note:**

> I read this to my wife and I though she was going to scream when I hit the end. So, sorry for the cliffhanger. I thought about making this longer but honestly, I'm trying to stay with short works for this series. I figure I could use the challenge.
> 
> I have to give credit to the song _Fire Song_ by Sophia Brous (from the Judy & Punch soundtrack) for this song. I had it on repeat while I wrote the whole thing and I feel it really gave the right feel to this work.


End file.
